Netanyahu lands in Washington to tackle Trump with one thing on both of their minds

July 28, 2026 — 3:00pm

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Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wants Donald Trump to escalate the campaign against Iran and start bombing the country’s power plants and oil infrastructure.

“It’s going to be painful in the short term; it’s the right thing to do in the long term,” he said at an Atlantic Council event in Washington on Monday afternoon.

“This will get rid of the regime, and if you get rid of the regime, you get rid of the nuclear program, and then you get rid of the ballistic missile program. It’s a painful solution, but I think it’s the only solution.”

As Lapid was on stage, his rival, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, landed at Joint Base Andrews a few kilometres away for a high-stakes visit that will include Republican senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral and a White House meeting with Trump.

Netanyahu, too, may implore the president to go further against Iran. After all, he was key to the war’s initiation.

Dumb and dumber: Trump and Putin are both losing wars to smaller enemies

Peter HartcherPolitical and international editor

Political and international editor

As reported by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in their book Regime Change, the Israeli leader made a “hard sell” to Trump about the possibility of toppling the regime in Tehran weeks before the........

© Brisbane Times